Facebook appeal over 'murder' mystery near Kirkcudbright

Information plea into teenager's tragic death nearly 40 years ago at Tongland

A family is appealing for information on the mysterious death of a Tongland teenager nearly 40 years ago.

According to police reports at the time, 19-year-old Dougie Wallace committed suicide after a night out.

But his family has always believed that he was murdered.

And a Facebook campaign has now been launched in a bid to raise awareness of the case and to track down anyone with information about it.

Dougie’s sister Helen McNee, from Dumfries, told the News: “We are certain he did not take his own life.

“We set up the Facebook page to see if there was anyone out there who knew any information.”

Dougie, an apprentice bricklayer, was found dead on the morning of May 29, 1976.

His body was discovered on the banks of the River Dee by two workers from Tongland Power Station.

Police said Dougie, who had a fractured skull and was almost naked when found, had drowned.

At the time, the News reported that a police spokesman said: “Foul play was not suspected.”

But his family has never accepted the official version of events.

The day before his death, the teenager had gone to Kirkcudbright Police Station to inform officers that he was no longer willing to testify against a friend in court.

That night he went to the pub with pals before leaving to walk to his home at a farm near Tongland.

It was the last time he was seen alive.

His body was found on the riverside near Tongland Bridge the next day.

Mrs McNee told the News that they had many concerns about the case and had set up the “Justice for Dougie” campaign as a result.

She said: “It was in his diary that he was going to the races the next day and my dad said when he saw the body there were no bruises on him yet he was supposed to have fallen through brambles and bracken.

“I decided to do it this year as he’s now been dead twice as long as he was alive. We set up the Facebook page to see if there was anyone out there who knew any information.

“We’ve already had a few messages and a woman has been in touch whose dad was in the pub with him that night.”

Almost 100 people have “liked” the page so far.

The police held a review of the case in 2008 but Mrs McNee, who was 22 at the time of Dougie’s death and is now 60, believes they have still to be told the full story.

Mrs McNee, who works at Newton Gardens Filling Station in Dumfries, added: “We don’t even know what way his body was facing when they found him.”

Chief Inspector William Sturgeon of Police Scotland said: “Following concerns which were raised in 2008 a full review of the circumstances was carried out by officers from Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the findings were passed to the procurator fiscal for his consideration.”

A Crown Office spokesperson said: “The circumstances of the death of Douglas Wallace were re-investigated by the police under the supervision of the Area Procurator Fiscal, and the findings of the investigation were reported to Crown Counsel. In the absence of any evidence to support any view that Mr Wallace died as a result of the criminal act of another person, Crown Counsel instructed that no proceedings were to be taken.”